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Banks, Barron, and Golden put Texas on the verge of joining elite NFL draft company

Joe Cookby:Joe Cook•about 9 hours•

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Kelvin Banks
Kelvin Banks (Will Gallagher/Inside Texas)

Kelvin Banks, Jahdae Barron, and Matthew Golden put together phenomenal performances at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine, and as a result has Texas set to join some elite company when it comes to first-round selections.

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Banks, Barron, and Golden could become the first trio from Texas to go in the first round of the draft since Lam Jones, Johnnie Johnson, and Derrick Hatchett were picked in the first 24 picks of the 1980 NFL Draft.

Texas has come close on a number of occasions, including in 2024 when Byron Murphy and Xavier Worthy were picked in the first round and T’Vondre Sweat was picked with the sixth selection of the second round. But it’s been over 40 years since Texas accomplished something several teams have done multiple times since the 2015 season.

To have three first round picks often is an indication of a great program, or at the very least a great season. Alabama, Georgia, LSU, and Ohio State often have put three or more first round picks into the draft in the past decade multiple times. But so too have one-offs like Mississippi State following an 8-4 2018 campaign or Washington in the aftermath of their national runner-up 2023 season.

Should Texas join the Tide, Dawgs, Tigers, and Buckeyes, it would be in the category of a developing trend more than fitting in as a possible one-off.

Barron’s 4.39 40-yard dash along with a 35-inch vertical jump, a 10 foot 3 inch broad jump, and Thorpe Award winning tape at corner has him possibly as the second best defensive back in the draft and neck and neck with Michigan’s Will Johnson.

Golden’s 4.29 40 was all the one-year Longhorn believed he needed to do in Indianapolis, but it likely bumped him up into the first 32 picks.

Banks measuring in at 6-foot-5 and 315 pounds with a 32-inch vertical, a 7.81 three cone, and a 4.66 20-yard shuttle dispelled any notion he might end up at guard and gave teams all the data they might need to make him OT1

All three had different developmental paths. Banks lived up to his three-and-out ranking. Barron made the most of his fifth year on campus and newfound position. Golden transferred over from Houston and turned into a WR1 for a Southeastern Conference program.

As a result, the Longhorns should join the company of some of the elite programs of the past decade that have put three players into the first round.

The Longhorns won’t be limited to those three in the upcoming draft, as Isaiah Bond, Alfred Collins, Barryn Sorrell, Andrew Mukuba, Gunnar Helm, Cameron Williams, Quinn Ewers, Jaydon Blue, Jake Majors, Vernon Broughton, and Hayden Conner all competed at the Combine and could potentially hear all their names called.

And in the coming years, more Longhorns like Anthony Hill, Arch Manning, DeAndre Moore, Ryan Wingo, and others could join them in the first round.

In 2025, Golden, Barron, and Banks will be carrying the burnt orange banner they hope flies in the first round for quite some time.

Teams with three or more first-round picks since the 2015 season

Draft year – School – Number of first-round picks

  • 2016 – Ohio State – 5
  • 2016 – Ole Miss -3
  • 2017 – Alabama – 4
  • 2017 – LSU – 3
  • 2017 – Ohio State – 3
  • 2018 – Alabama – 4
  • 2018 – Georgia – 3
  • 2019 – Alabama – 3
  • 2019 – Clemson – 3
  • 2019 – Mississippi State – 3
  • 2020 – Alabama – 4
  • 2020 – LSU – 6
  • 2020 – Ohio State – 3
  • 2021 – Alabama – 6
  • 2022 – Georgia – 5
  • 2023 – Alabama – 3
  • 2023 – Georgia – 3
  • 2023 – Ohio State – 3
  • 2024 – Alabama – 3
  • 2024 – LSU – 3
  • 2024 – Washington – 3

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